Here are Patrick Stroh's favorite smartphone and tablet apps. Stroh is a principal at Mercury Business Advisors, which provides management advisory services in business strategy, innovation, and product development. He is also the author of "Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win!" which was released by Wiley last month. Prior to consulting, he most recently held positions within UnitedHealth Group, including chief strategy and innovation officer, client experience officer, president, and SVP of business strategy. He is also a contributing writer for The Business Journals.

My tablet: iPad

My smartphone: Apple iPhone 5

I always have my iPhone in a mophie, which is a protective skin for the phone that also doubles as a second battery. Talk about a life saver when you travel, and especially when you are using GPS apps, which drain your battery faster than a texting teen.

My five favorite apps

1. Flashlight

OK, so an iPhone is an awfully expensive flashlight, but I can’t tell you how many times I use the flashlight app to be able to see or find something. Can’t read the menu at your romantic restaurant? Use the flashlight app. It’s surprisingly strong and does the job.

2. Delta

For the road warrior, the airline apps are now indispensable. Instead of trying to find a computer in the hotel to print a boarding pass, determine which gate I’m flying out of and don’t know where to tell the cabbie which hub to drop me at, wondering if my flight is on time or delayed, and many other useful functions. These apps make travel SO MUCH easier. I would not be a happy camper to travel again without the use of this app.

3. Square Register

Download the app and get a device about the size of a 50-cent piece that plugs into your iPhone or iPad, and now you can swipe credit cards for payment of goods or services. I use this device at book signings where I’m selling books and can now easily take credit or debit card payments in seconds using my iPhone. Nice.

4. AnyList

My wife and I love this app. Are you a list maker like us? Then you must get this app! It simply lets you make a list, but then allows so much more. You can save the list for repeated use, you can “share” the list with others (think about divvying up chores or items to pick up in a store), and it updates on the fly as you add or delete things from the list for others to see. You can customize your lists in many other ways as well.

5. Voicememos

OK, seems a little boring, but this is a must have for me. Inevitability, some of my best ideas come to me while I’m driving somewhere and can’t write things down. I used to have one of those silly little suction cup note pads on my dash to take notes, but not the safest thing in the world. So now, when inspiration strikes while I’m driving or I can’t write it down, I record a voice memo for later.

My favorite app for fun

Sleep Machine

You know those cool sleep machines they have in Brookstone and SkyMall ads? Its now an app! You can set this app to play relaxing sounds for you to fall asleep to or listen to as soothing background sounds. If I’m not on a call in my office, I play a three-sound combination of lapping waves at the beach, fireplace crackle, and a stream. When I hear these three sounds together it reminds me of sitting outside my house by the lake, or camping at Lake Aaron where I grew up. Very relaxing, no matter where I am.

Patrick Stroh is a president at Mercury Business Advisors, which provides management advisory services in business strategy, innovation, and product development. He is also the author of "Advancing Innovation: Galvanizing, Enabling and Measuring Innovation Value!” and "Business Strategy: Plan, Execute, Win!" He recently held positions within UnitedHealth Group, including chief strategy and innovation officer, client experience officer, president, and SVP of business strategy.